Ok, so now you have downloaded and installed the Cloud Xtender beta, now what? Well first you need to set-up your cloud accounts, the methods of doing this vary from one provider to another (if you run into issues, post of the community forum). So once you have a cloud storage account sorted, and you have app access to that account, you need to set up Cloud Xtender… let get started!
The first thing you are going to want to do is create a cloud drive. A cloud drive is simply a drive that will appear on your machine that will allow access to the cloud files. To do this, use the “Create a new cloud drive” option.
Here you simple need to select the drive letter you would like the new drive to have, and give the drive a name (this will be reflected in Windows Explorer). Once you have created the drive, it will appear on you machine just like any other drive on your system.
The next step is to connect this new drive to a cloud service, this involves setting up a “cloud connection”. Setting up a cloud connection involves specifying the required credentials.
Now before finishing with the cloud connection options, lets detour slightly and explain a little more about how Cloud Xtender connects and deals with local and cloud files. As previously explained, there are cloud connections, but there are also “File placement rules”. These rules determine how Cloud Xtender distributes files to more that one cloud service, and how the files are sync’d between your local machine and the cloud services (for more info on the different sync mode, check out my previous blog – http://blog.division-m.com/2014/11/19/cloud-xtender-some-detailed-info/)
So continuing on with the walk through, lets look at the rest of the cloud connection options. The final option here is the “Default sync mode”. As mentioned, cloud connections also need a file placement rule. When you add the first cloud connection, Cloud Xtender will create a default rule that applies to the entire cloud drive (you can later modify this, or add other rules). This final option allows you to pick the sync mode you would like for the default rule, in this case either Mirror (files exist on the local drive and cloud storage), or Remote (files exist on the cloud storage only, an ghost image is maintained locally).
Ok at this point you have a working Cloud Xtender solution… what next. Well that depends on what you want from Cloud Xtender, some users will simply have a single cloud connection, others will want to have many cloud connections, and rules to suit. (Tip – After you have created the first cloud connection, head to the File placement rule’s tab and check out the default rule that was automatically created). So lets check out the file placement rules in more detail. There are 3 key elements, 1) What cloud connections are to be used, 2) How the files are sync’d between the local drive and cloud storage provider(s) and 3) If you wish to monitor changes made to files on the cloud storage provider(s). Again more detailed info on these sections can be read on my previous blog – http://blog.division-m.com/2014/11/19/cloud-xtender-some-detailed-info/, I recommend you check it out.
With file placement rules, you can really dive in and chose where files go… at the moment you can have a rule covers the entire drive, or a specific folder (rules are cascading). To define a folder specific rule, you first create a rule, then under the File/Folder Management tab, you apply that rule to one or more folders (with the Windows Explorer plugin, you can do this directly from Windows Explorer).
There are no limits to the number of rules, or number of folders a specific rule can be assigned to.
Before I go, one question we have had often during the beta program is “what happens if I set up a number of cloud connections, and create a bunch of rules to suit, I don’t want to lose all that work if my machine dies“. Well we are working on a feature called “One touch config”… this will allow a user to save their entire Cloud Xtender configuration to the cloud, allowing them to config a new Cloud Xtender client, including the files and folders, in an instance.
Finally, the release date? Well there is still a bit of work to do, but we are confident that we can get it out mid April. So the big day is set for the 17th of April… stay tuned!